Lutheran bishop issues public apology
Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, issued a public apology, Tuesday, to members of a majority Latino immigrant congregation for the pain and trauma they endured after the predominantly white denomination’s first openly transgender bishop unexpectedly fired their pastor.
Speaking during the 2022 Churchwide Assembly being held in Columbus, Ohio, Eaton delivered the apology to members of the Iglesia Luterana Santa Maria Peregrina in Stockton, describing the events that transpired as “a sharp assault on your dignity.”
The series of events that led to the apology began, on Dec. 12, when the Rev. Megan Rohrer, the denomination’s first transgender bishop who oversaw one of the church’s 65 synods, announced to the congregation that their pastor, the Rev. Nelson Rabell-Gonzalez, had been removed over allegations of verbal harassment and retaliation. Rohrer oversaw nearly 200 congregations in northern California and northern Nevada.
Rohrer’s shocking announcement upended the congregation’s much-anticipated celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The community had planned an elaborate program, that day, with mariachi singers, traditional dancers and performances by children, all led by their pastor. After the pastor’s firing, the congregation lost the denomination’s financial backing and was forced to vacate its building and worship in the parking lot.
Rohrer resigned, in June, and, the next day, became the target of a church disciplinary process.
During Tuesday’s public apology, Eaton addressed how especially egregious it was to have the announcement of their pastor’s termination coincide with the feast day that has elevated significance within the Latino community. Eaton said she is working with church leadership to make amends with the congregation and reviewing Rabell-Gonzalez’s case.
What happened “exposed the depth of systemic racism that we wrestle with as a church and in society,” Eaton said.
“It is not the end, but a critical step on a continuing journey for the goal of being a more faithful church responding to the plague of racism,” Eaton said. “I pray that God’s power enables these words of apology and acknowledgement as a step toward concrete repentance.”
Eaton also committed to listening intently to the voices of those traditionally marginalized. She delivered her remarks in English and they were translated in real time into Spanish.
Jovita Torres Pérez, a congregant from the California church, delivered an emotional address in Spanish, saying it was not easy for her and other church members “to be here.”
“The last nine months have been difficult and painful for our community,” she said, adding that their pastor and the community have been victims of various racist actions on the larger church’s part.
Pérez accepted Eaton’s apology on behalf of her church and said the congregation believes in forgiveness, reconciliation and reparations. She said she viewed this apology as the first step in the process of dismantling systemic racism and white supremacy within the denomination.
Pérez said congregants still support their pastor.
“We believe in his integrity and honesty,” she said.